BUFFETS HAVE always been popular with connoisseurs of good food, owing to the variety of fare offered and partly because of unlimited portions one can help oneself to.

One of the oldest hotels in town, Geeth, has started a buffet lunch, the theme being Kerala meals. Located at some distance from the main road, Geeth recommends itself to those who are not in a hurry to eat and get out.

Ever felt your privacy being intruded upon when forced to share table with strangers? Geeth is a place where one can linger over lunch, for the restaurant is not only spacious but also not crowded. Only a couple of paintings adorn the wall by way of décor, so one does not feel that the decor is eating into space that could probably be used for arranging a couple more tables. The music playing in the background though could have been softer.

As for the meal, you can take your pick of rice - boiled or raw. There's parippu or pulisseri to begin the meal with. Apart from the usual sambhar and rasam, there's aviyal. Depending on the day, there may be a kitchadi of cucumber and curd, or a tomato or lady's finger or pineapple patchadi to choose from. It's accompanied by thoran, pappadam, and three different pickles - mango, lime and ginger - to hotten up your taste buds.

If rice isn't enough to make you full, there's chappati on offer too. For non-vegetarians, there's fish or chicken curry to sink your teeth into. To top it all comes the dessert, which could be either payasam - kadala, ada, palpayasam or vermicelli - or ice-cream or even fruit salad.

The whole meal is priced at Rs. 60 and probably a trifle expensive for vegetarians. But for non-vegetarians, an unlimited serving of fish or chicken curry is the icing on the cake.

The food is not limited to Kerala meals. One can also order `a la carte' - from the menu - be it continental, Chinese, tandoori or ordinary Punjabi `sabzis', but at an extra cost, of course.